In recent years, there has been much interest in thermoelectric conversion materials that can directly convert thermal energy to electrical energy. Furthermore, there is demand for flexible film-shaped thermoelectric conversion materials in order to form light-weight and large-area elements and to form elements that can easily be incorporated into various devices without any restrictions in terms of shape.
Conventionally, inorganic materials have mainly been investigated as thermoelectric conversion materials, however, in order to meet the demand described above, organic materials have been more actively investigated for use as thermoelectric conversion materials in recent years. The reason for this is that organic materials typically have excellent processability and flexibility compared to inorganic materials.
One example of a known organic thermoelectric conversion material is a poly(metal 1,1,2,2-ethenetetrathiolate) (refer to NPL 1).